Strawberry Fields Kite Festival

May 30, 2004

Something seemed wrong somehow? The sun was shinning,... the wind was blowing,... and it was a weekend? That's it,...It finally stopped raining for a change. What a wonderful day to fly a kite! Eric Curtis' Boreal arch stayed aloft all day!

Bill Peart had his delta flying high with a great string of wind socks attached! A little later on I spotted Bill, Ziggy Racek, Dennis & Kyle Ische and Kerry St Dennis flying stunt kites. Still a little later after that I saw several of them jump in some buggys and zoom off. That's just the kind of great day it was for flying.Larry Green getting his home made stunt kite ready for flight. Larry has really done a nice job on this kite! I have seen Rick Longhurst flying one of Larry's Genki kites many times over the last couple of years. This was the first chance I got to meet Larry in person.

Vaino Raun finally got his Pyros deltas flying in formation. The Pyros kept attacking the local trees for no reason. As we wrestled to free one of these large deltas out of the tree one of the patients approached me. He quickly offered his expert tree climbing services to help out with this situation. Fortunately for everyone the kite fell out of the tree and no tree climbing was needed.A lot of people walked right up to these spiked bols to feel those neat looking pointed spikes. They sure look sharp but as we already know,.. they are soft as silk to the touch.

Ed hummel preparing for a Rok Battle? While there was no rok battle this year Ed was always at the ready! Can you make out the funky safety gloves?Larry and Karen Green flew this terrific double delta conyne. Rick Longhurst informed me that this kite was built entirely from scraps It's a very large kite and it was adorned with plenty of great matching wind socks & tails

The sun was already shining but Dennis Ische's 20 ft kite simply made the day even brighter! The brand new 50ft diamond tail from Gomberg looks good too!Little Jessica trying a different kind of buggy engine. While she is pretty darned small the delta did nothing to get that buggy moving.

both Ed and I had some fun flying my new Vampire Bat quad kite. it is a lot more sensitive to hand movements than a Rev would be. People started walking up to us and asked questions about this unique kite and it's cool spinning and hovering abilities.Did I take the days theme too seriously? Lots of strawberry red colour filled the sky. Maybe I should have added a straw hat to complete the picture. Then it would really be a "straw-bear-y" festival :-)

Dennis Ische recently completed this 10 foot bol. Careful as the checkered pattern can make you eyes go a little wonky if you stare too long! :-)My daughter Sarah posed with myself and the Strawberry "tart" award. I'm still not sure what I really won but I am not asking anymore questions! Eric and Anne handed out some truly great looking home made trophys to many that attended. It's their way of saying thanks for comming out and supporting us!

So sorry I did not manage to get a picture of Anne Sloboda. She sure makes some "purdy nice" trophys. Pictured is our beloved host for the day, Eric Curtis. We loved the music so much that all I can say is,.. peace, love and bell bottoms forever man! Did I get it right Eric?

Seriously, a special thanks go out to Anne and Eric for letting us have so much fun. The kids enjoyed the free cotton candy and I relished the ice cream topped with,.... strawberrys of course! - Carlos Simoes

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